It’s Meechie Johnson’s team, and it was his day.
South Carolina’s junior guard and emotional team leader came up huge in the biggest game of the season to date, scoring nine straight Gamecock points in the final four minutes as No. 18 South Carolina men’s basketball beat No. 24 Florida 82-76 in the first home top-25 matchup for the program in seven years.
"They know how to win," Lamont Paris said. "They know how to win, and I think we have somehow devalued that trait and that characteristic. I really like where they're at."
Johnson went on a personal 4-0 run to break a 68-68 tie, hit a runner in the lane to put South Carolina (24-5, 12-4 SEC) back up three in the last two minutes and then after Florida’s (20-9, 11-5 SEC) Walter Clayton Jr. stuck his sixth 3-pointer of the game to re-tie the score at 74-74, Johnson answered back with a dagger right into the hearts of Gator country on a step-back 3-pointer with 43.5 seconds left.
The Ohio State transfer guard finished the game with 25 points, 21 in the second half, and South Carolina won its second game in four days in dramatic fashion after trailing by 10 points early in the second half.
"Late in the game I just wanted to do whatever I could to help my team win," Johnson said. "Whether that was scoring, getting my teammates involved, getting a stop at the other end, getting a rebound, whatever I needed to do, I wanted to do to help us win."
South Carolina (24-5, 12-4 SEC) is now guaranteed to finish in the top 5 in the league standings and has very nearly locked up a double-bye in the conference tournament, needing just one more win over the final week to confirm it. All the while, the Gamecocks are now just half a game behind first-place in the league with Saturday night’s crucial Tennessee vs. Alabama game set to play a major role in determining the league standings.
Midway through the second half Florida still firmly in control. Paris busted out his 1-3-1 zone, a move that made all the difference. It is a tool he used frequently last year and in spurts this season, but not for any extended period of time. But without much else of an answer for Clayton or Zyon Pullin — the Florida guards combined for 36 points — it was a last roll of the dice to try to haul in some momentum before things spiraled beyond repair. Zachary Davis patrolled the head of it as always, and he was sensational.
The Gators only made three field goals over the next 10 minutes, turned it over eight times down the stretch and the Gamecocks found their defensive footing just in time.
"Just being agressive and impacting the ball at the top," Davis said was the key to the zone. "Just being long, being active. Active hands, active feet, make the passes hard for the offense. I feel like everyone did what they had to do and we caused havoc for them."
Five quick Johnson points closed the deficit back within striking distance, and then the aggression picked up. It turned up on defense with the zone at the forefront, and on offense in terms of driving the basket. South Carolina reached the double-bonus with 6:29 still remaining in the contest and took advantage of it, hitting 16-of-22 free throws in the second half as a crucial component of the comeback.
And at the end of the game, the man who started hot for South Carolina fittingly closed it out. Jacobi Wright scored 12 points in the first half including eight in a three-minute span to help the Gamecocks stay in it early, and he hit a free throw to make it a two-possession game with 12.4 seconds left. And after a Collin Murray-Boyles block — he scored 15 points and hauled in 11 rebounds for his first career double-double — and two more Davis free throws, South Carolina had its most important win of the season so far.
Emphasis on “so far” with Tennessee coming to town Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off.
"Two games left and you're in position to potentially get a piece of the SEC men's basketball championship," Paris said. "Probably not a lot of people would have said that. A lot of doubt surrounded these guys, and these guys have continously risen to the occasion."
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